Atlanta Hawks GM Made Racist Remarks About Luol Deng In A Meeting, Says He Was 'Repeating Comments'

Atlanta Hawks minority owner Michael Gearon
wanted general manager Danny Ferry fired after he made a
racist remark in a meeting in June, according to a letter sent to
majority owner Bruce Levenson that was obtained by WSBTV in
Atlanta.

In
his letter, Gearon says Ferry made inappropriate comments
about free agent Luol Deng on a conference call with team
executives, which he recorded. Gearson claims that Ferry said
that Deng "has a little African in him. Not in a bad way, but
he's like a guy who would have a nice store out front but sell
you counterfeit stuff out of the back."

"With respect to one potential free agent, a highly-regarded
African-American player and humanitarian, Ferry talked about the
player's good points, and then went on to describe his negatives,
stating that 'he has a little African in him. Not in a bad way,
but he's like a guy who would have a nice store out front but
sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back.' Ferry completed the
racial slur by describing the player (and impliedly, all person
of African descent) as a two-faced liar and cheat."

Ferry acknowledged that he made the comments
in a statement, but also claimed that he was "repeating
comments" from another, unnamed source.

Here's Ferry's statement:

"In regards to the insensitive remarks that were used during our
due diligence process, I was repeating comments that were
gathered from numerous sources during background conversations
and scouting about different players. I repeated those comments
during a telephone conversation reviewing the draft and free
agency process. Those words do not reflect my views, or words
that I would use to describe an individual and I certainly regret
it. I apologize to those I offended and to Luol [Deng], who I
reached out to Monday morning.

"In terms of the email that Bruce sent, the situation is
disturbing and disappointing on many levels and I understand
Bruce’s words were offensive.

"I am committed to learning from this and deeply regret this
situation. I fully understand we have work to do in order to help
us create a better organization; one that our players and fans
will be proud of, on and off the court, and that is where my
focus is moving forward."